CLEVELAND — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence played up the wars he waged against the Bush administration and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill, holding them up as a badge of honor before a group of conservative activists days after being tapped as presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate.

Mr. Pence said at an event hosted by the American Conservative Union that by the time he arrived in Congress in 2000, it felt as if the Republican Revolution that Newt Gingrich led in 1994 had come and gone.

“By the time I arrived in Washington, D.C., the first priority of a Republican president was No Child Left Behind, one of the largest expansions of the federal government’s role in education in the history of the department,” Mr. Pence said. “Soon I found myself battling against a president and leaders in my own party on that issue, on the expansion of entitlements, and I am proud to say that I was one of the first to fight against the Wall Street bailout on Capitol Hill.

“Our party lost our way and no surprising lost the majority in 2006,” he said.

Mr. Pence said that he was part of the group that the party rebound and knocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the top post in the House chamber.

The Bush family has fallen out of favor with grass-roots activists. That became clear during the GOP presidential primary after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush failed to gain much traction despite having a substantial financial advantage over his Republican rivals.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, as well as Jeb Bush, have opposed the Trump candidacy and do not plan to attend the Republican National Convention.